Greater Good
by mustlovecat
Summary: DL One-shot - Kind of a "mid-ep" for 5.23 Greater Good


**A/N **So, I could not resist after last week's ep. Here's just a little drabble, a couple missing scenes that are completely gooey and fluffy LOL

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"Are you all right?" Lindsay asked as she shifted in the bed, trying to get comfortable. She took in her husband's expression as he stood in the doorway; he seemed dazed.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, fine. How ya doin'?" He walked further into the hospital room and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"She's just like you. Stubborn and defiant," she grumbled, running a hand over her large belly.

Danny let out a chuckle, then took a deep breath.

"Really, Danny, what's wrong? You don't look so good. You're not going to go into cardiac arrest once I start pushing, are you?"

He furrowed his brow. Were those not the exact words he had uttered to Adam just minutes ago? There were moments when her investigate skills awed him – and others when they annoyed him. He supposed she felt the exact same way. "Baby, I'm fine."

"You're nervous."

He quirked an eyebrow. "You're not?"

Linds sighed. "I'm terrified," she admitted.

Danny seemed to relax a little at the confession. "Yeah, me, too."

"I'll tell you what I'm afraid of if you tell me."

He took her hand. "Deal."

"I don't want to screw her up. It's not like we sat down and planned all of this out, you know? So, what if I was never meant to be a mom? What if that so-called mother's intuition doesn't exist, or it just doesn't kick in? I don't want to cause irreparable harm before she's even a year old!"

Danny squeezed his wife's hand. "Linds, you're gonna be a great mom. From the moment you found out you were pregnant, your focus has been on this baby and making sure she's healthy and taken care of. That mother's intuition kicked in long time ago, sweetheart. Besides, you're not doin' this alone, right? I'm going along for the ride right here with ya."

She nodded, feeling herself calm. She looked at their hands, fingers intertwined, Danny's wedding ring glistening in the fluorescent lights. It was still hard to believe that she was his wife, that he had wanted their family so much that he had dragged her to City Hall to make it happen. In her eyes, it was the most romantic thing he had ever done for her. She raised her gaze to him then. "So, spill."

"I don't wanna disappoint you, Linds. I have before and I'm afraid I'll do it again."

Lindsay reached up with her free hand and cupped his face. "I didn't give you enough credit, Messer. The minute you found out about our baby, you stepped up, big time. You can't disappoint me, or our daughter. I know how much you love us both and that's all we can ask of you. And –" Her face scrunched up then and she gripped his hand – _hard_ – as she was hit with another contraction.

"Breathe, sweetheart. Just like they taught us, a'right? That's good, baby. I'm right here," he soothed her as she breathed through the pain.

As the contraction passed, she looked at him imploringly. "How long?"

Danny glanced at his watch. "Five minutes."

"Still? Danny, I can't do this. I can't. They're gonna have to find some other way to get her out because I don't think I can do this."

He fought back an amused smirk. His wife, the woman who was always so in control, was losing it just a little. She was also completely underestimating herself. He had no doubt that she was going to make it through this – probably better than he would.

He was not wrong – hours later as she pushed with all of her might to bring their precious baby girl into the world, he was completely awed by her strength. He had never been so proud and overcome. And all he could do once he heard that first piercing scream from their daughter was to hold his wife close and marvel at what she had just done. "Oh, babe. All right. You did it. You did it," he whispered to her, brushing his lips against her cheek.

She held onto him tightly. "_We _did it, Danny. Look at her."

The nurse brought the tiny baby girl over and handed her to her father. Tears burned his eyes as he held her for the first time. A perfect, pink bundle, ten fingers, ten toes, a beautiful little button nose that she had clearly gotten from her mother. "Hi, baby girl. Look at you. You're just perfect, aren't ya? I'm your daddy. And I swear that I'm gonna love you and protect you and your ma for the rest of our lives, all right?"

After a moment, Danny laid the baby on her mother's chest. And that's when he fought the battle with the tears as a couple rolled down his face as he saw his wife cradling their daughter for the first time. From the look on Lindsay's face, her fears might have still been present, but they were the furthest thing from her mind. All Danny saw in her eyes was love and amazement. He leaned over and kissed his wife's forehead before gently running a finger tip across his baby's cheek.

"She's so beautiful," Lindsay whispered. She looked up at Danny then. "Thank you."

He kissed her temple as he stretched out beside her, letting the baby grip one of his fingers tightly. "I love you. Both of you."

Lindsay grinned down at their daughter. "You hear that, sweetheart? That means we're the luckiest girls in the world. And your daddy and I promise not to screw you up too badly."

"I think we're gonna be just fine."

She glanced up at him. "You're not scared anymore?"

He cleared his throat. "Well, I just realized that they're gonna expect us to take her home and she's ridiculously tiny, so, no, I'm not gonna say I'm not scared. But lookin' at her, Linds, I'd rather be scared than not have this."

The precious baby girl let out a small wail then before settling herself right back down as she snuggled against her mother's breast. She was probably a little scared, too, but it would have been impossible for her not to feel the love that simply emanated off of her mommy and daddy. That was enough to calm her and let her know that she would be well taken care of.


End file.
